In keeping with a unanimous call by the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) “for every province, diocese and parish in the Anglican Communion to adopt a clear focus on intentional discipleship,” the Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands will be hosting two two-day seminars for clergy, church workers and selected lay workers between November 6 and 10.
The seminars at the St. Andrew Parish Church Hall, Ellesmere Road, Kingston, on November 6 and 7; and the Holy Trinity Church Hall in Westgate, Montego Bay, from November 9 to 10, will begin at 8.30 a.m. each day. They will be led by the Rev. Canon John Kafwanka and the Rev. Canon Mark Oxbrow, co-authors of a book titled “Intentional Discipleship and Disciple-Making: An Anglican Guide for Christian Life and Formation.”
Canon Kafwanka is the Mission Director for the Anglican Communion; and Canon Oxbrow is International Coordinator of the Faith2Share network.
In the Foreword to the book by Canons Kafwanka and Oxbrow, the Archbishop of the Province of South East Asia explained that “The invitation to discipleship is, firstly, an invitation to an increasingly intimate relationship with the Triune God whom we know in Jesus. This relationship, which is both individual and communal, is nurtured through prayer and the deepening of spiritual life.”
Suffragan Bishop of Kingston, The Rt. Rev Robert Thompson, notes that “Intentional discipleship and the regular practice of making disciples are central to our understanding of salvation, mission, and ecclesiology.” He says the two seminars will provide an opportunity for clergy, church workers and designated lay persons “to contemplate the Biblical and theological tools needed for Discipleship-making in the home, the community and the society as a whole.”
The call to intentional discipleship was made in a Resolution which was passed at the last meeting of the ACC in Lusaka, Zambia in 2016. The Resolution, which pointed to the Gospel imperative to make disciples, urged members of the Anglican Communion worldwide to “produce resources to equip and enable the whole church to be effective in making new disciples of Jesus Christ.”
The season of Intentional Discipleship in the Diocese of Jamaica and The Cayman Islands will be officially launched on Sunday, November 12 with a special service of the Holy Eucharist at deCarteret College, Mandeville, starting at 10.00 a.m.
Rev. Canon Mark Oxbrow
